Stonewall Education Equality Index 2015

The Stonewall Education Equality Index - now running for the fifth year - is a comprehensive annual benchmarking exercise for local authorities, which will showcase how well they are tackling homophobic and biphobic bullying in their schools and supporting lesbian, gay and bisexual young people in their local community.

It’s clear from research conducted by Cambridge University, published by Stonewall in the School Report 2012 that homophobic and biphobic bullying remains endemic in Britain’s Schools. Over half of all pupils who are gay, lesbian or bisexual experience homophobic or biphobic bullying.

We know that local authorities play a key role in addressing homophobic and biphobic bullying and celebrating difference in our schools, and completing this Index will assist in your efforts in tackling this key challenge.

Why take part in the Education Equality Index?

The Education Equality Index is the only nationwide auditing tool for benchmarking progress in this area. Participation is essential to clearly identify progress and demonstrate year on year how well your local authority is tackling homophobic and biphobic bullying.

The Index helps to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity for young people across all diversity strands. An improved performance will help your local authority, and its schools, to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 as well as the current Ofsted inspection framework which has a specific focus on homophobic and biphobic language and bullying.

It’s free to take part in! The Education Equality Index has been designed with the current economic and political environment in mind. Being completely free, it is the ideal way to prove your local authority is delivering measurable outcomes when budgets are tight. We will also provide all participating local authorities with individual feedback highlighting good practice and areas to improve.

It’s useful for justifying future budgetary expenditure in your local authority. As the Index forms a real evidence base for your work, this is a great tool to use when you need to make a case for future expenditure in your anti-bullying work.

The index has been designed by anti-bullying and education specialists. We have made sure to get a broad cross-section of currently practising specialists to ensure this Index is asking the right questions, identifying the latest best practice and showcasing innovations within the field.

More and more local authorities are taking part. In 2014, 45 local authorities took part in the Education Equality Index, our largest number ever. This increase in numbers reflects how committed local authorities are when tackling homophobic and biphobic bullying. Participating will give your local authority unique insight into the work that local authorities from across the nation are doing.

Entering the Index

The Index can be found here, with guidance for its completion here. The closing date for submissions has now passed.

The results of the best performing and most improved local authorities in the Index will be announced at our renowned Education for All Conference on 10 July 2015 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. Our conference always attracts high-profile politicians and high-ranking education officials to present the awards. Don’t forget to start filling out the Index early to give you time to collect all the evidence needed to achieve a higher score!

Frequently asked questions

Is the Index open to every local authority in the country?

Yes it is, we have invited and encouraged every local authority to take part.

Will every local authority's results be announced publicly?

Only the top 10 local authorities will be announced publicly. All other local authorities who complete the Index will be told their position confidentially. It will be up to them whether or not to announce it publicly.

Should we take part if we’ve only just started tackling homophobia and biphobia in our schools and feel we still have lots to do?

Absolutely. No matter what stage of the journey you’re at, it’s beneficial for your local authority to take part in the Index. For those who are just starting out, this will be an effective way of knowing where you began, so that you can monitor progress year after year – particularly useful for justifying budget expenditure.

How will the results be launched?

The results will be launched at our Education for All Conference on 10 July 2015 and each local authority will be contacted directly and informed of their score.

Can schools enter the Index?

The Index is only open to local authorities. Although schools and local authorities may work together to identify progress in tackling homophobic and biphobic bullying and to complete relevant parts of the Index, the Index should be submitted by the local authority.

Schools are encouraged to join our School Champions programme. It provides tailored training, support and guidance to primary and secondary schools in challenging homophobic and biphobic bullying and celebrating difference.

Once we know our score, will we get feedback?

All local authorities that take part will be told their score, and local authorities who work with us through our Education Champions programme will receive detailed feedback with one-on-one meetings on how they performed and how they can improve in the future. If your local authority would like to join our Education Champions programme, please click here for more information on the range of support joining this programme offers.